An 18-wheeler struck an unoccupied car that had run out of gas on northbound Interstate 35W in Fort Worth early on Wednesday, November 11, and its trailer caught fire, closing all northbound lanes near Pharr Street for hours into the morning, according to Fort Worth police in a report by WFAA. Officers responded at about 2:45 a.m.
Source: WFAA (Dallas–Fort Worth), reporting Fort Worth Police Department account (Nov 11, 2026)
Police said the car had run out of gas and was left unoccupied on the right side of the roadway. A northbound 18-wheeler struck the vehicle and continued a short distance before stopping. The truck's trailer then caught fire. No one was in the car at the time, and the report identified no injuries — a fact drivers should treat as preliminary, because officials had not released a full accounting of the truck driver's condition or any other person at the scene.
Fort Worth firefighters extinguished the trailer fire. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reported the northbound lanes were still closed at about 7 a.m. — more than four hours after the crash — while crews dealt with the burned trailer and the wreckage, sending the morning's first traffic onto detours through north Fort Worth.
What investigators have not said
Police have not explained why the truck struck the stopped car, whether the car's hazard lights were on, or whether speed, visibility or fatigue played any role — and no cause should be assumed. The circumstances remain under investigation, according to the report. Officials also have not said what the trailer was carrying, whether the load contributed to the fire, or when exactly the last lane reopened.
Get as far onto the shoulder as possible, turn on hazard lights, stay belted inside if traffic makes exiting dangerous — or exit away from traffic if it is safe — and call for help. Texas's Move Over / Slow Down law requires approaching drivers to move over a lane or slow to 20 mph below the speed limit for stopped vehicles displaying hazard lights.
A core freight corridor for North Texas
Interstate 35W is the western branch of I-35 through Fort Worth, carrying a heavy mix of local commuters and long-haul freight between the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, Oklahoma and the north, while I-35E serves Dallas. Overnight hours are peak running time for many truckers crossing Texas, when traffic is lighter but stopped vehicles on the shoulder are harder to see — one reason a single stalled car can close an entire direction of the freeway when a crash and fire follow. Thousands of Punjabi-American truckers run Texas corridors including I-35, I-20, I-40 and I-10, and overnight stalled-vehicle crashes are a recurring hazard on those routes.
The crash is also a reminder of how thin the margin is around a vehicle that has simply run out of fuel. Police said this car was empty and on the right side of the road, yet the collision still ignited a trailer fire strong enough to shut the freeway for hours. Investigators typically examine lighting and hazard use on the stopped vehicle, the truck's speed and braking, driver hours and visibility in the pre-dawn darkness before assigning any fault — none of which has been announced in this case.
What happens next
Fort Worth police are expected to complete their investigation of the collision, and TxDOT's DriveTexas system carried the closure while lanes were shut. Drivers heading north through Fort Worth on Wednesday morning were advised to expect delays and use alternate routes while the closure lasted. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if police release the cause, the truck driver's status, or any citations.